Larry Tremblay found out he attained a major milestone through social media.
Following his team’s quad-meet victories over Concord-Carlisle, Holliston, Hopkinton and Catholic Memorial, the legendary Melrose wrestling coach was informed the school’s Twitter feed posted he had attained the 850-win milestone.
Tremblay becomes the second wrestling coach in state history to get there, the other being former St. John’s Prep coach Manny Costa.
“I sorta had a feeling I was pretty close, I figured I was going to get there this year because we were wrestling more Saturday quad-meets,” said Tremblay, whose team is 21-4 on the season. “My assistant (Hagai Brandon) was the one who actually told me he saw it on social media. It’s a good feeling, but I’m happier for the kids.”
Tremblay’s ride began in 1979-80 when he took a North Reading team coming off a 2-12-1 season and guided them to a 13-2 mark. A year later, Tremblay arrived at Winchester and embarked on a storied 38-year run where the school became a New England power.
“They were 5-9 the year before I got there and we went 11-5 the first year with Gary Errico and we just took off from there,” Tremblay said. “We had some great wrestlers, some great teams and we had a lot of fun.”
Ross Ickes coached with Tremblay in Winchester before taking over at archrival Wakefield 33 years ago.
“I can’t shake him, I thought I lost him when he left Winchester, but he winds up at Melrose,” Ickes said with a laugh. “I learned a lot from Larry early on, things like being able to run a practice and watching how he interacts with the kids. He just knew how to get every little bit from every kid and always managed to find a way to make it work.”
The day-to-day grind began wearing on Tremblay, who decided to step down from Winchester after almost four decades. Not wanting to totally step away from his beloved sport, Tremblay accepted an assistant coaching job at nearby Melrose in 2018. Through a set of circumstances, the head coaching job at the school opened up and Tremblay was back in business.
“The athletic director (Stephen Fogarty) was a Springfield guy like myself and so was the head football coach (Tim Morris),” Tremblay said. “The Melrose kids were a lot like the Winchester kids in that they are great kids and great competitors. Just like Winchester, there was great support from the families which is something you have to have.”
Fogarty has a unique perspective on what makes Tremblay tick, serving in a dual capacity as his boss as well as the parent of three boys (Shea, Stephen and Quinn) who wrestled for him. He isn’t surprised that Tremblay has won the battle against Father Time and remained one of the best in the business.
“His interaction with the kids and their families is special,” Fogarty said. “He has the ability to find what each person needs and makes sure there is a spot for them on the team. Each of my three kids were different and Larry has the unique ability to know which buttons to push and all three of them were able to have great success wrestling for him.”
Even after more than 40 years on the mat, Tremblay’s competitive juices have never waned. That was evident at the recent George Bossi Lowell Holidays where Tremblay’s top wrestler Johnny Moraes surprised the field to capture the 113-pound title.
“It was so exciting being in a beautiful venue (Tsongas Center) and to have a kid leave there as a champion is special,” Tremblay said. “Johnny had a great tournament, he went out there and beat the kid from Connecticut (Jude Grammatico), then knocked off the Central Catholic (Cole Glynn) who is a returning champion.
“If your juices aren’t flowing after that, you better get out of the business.”
Something Larry Tremblay isn’t quite ready to do just yet.
Boston Latin turned in a respectable second place showing at the Cape Cod Tournament, thanks in large part to Quinn Bowles. He captured the 190-pound title and earned Outstanding Wrestler honors in the process.
The team title was won by Taunton, whose balance up and down the lineup was too much for the rest of the field. Nine Tigers cracked the top three including champions Michael Leskoski (132), Anthony Vieira (144), Kingston DaCosta (165) and William Buffington (175), runner-ups Cody Truelson (113), Joshua Millerick (157) and Elijah Prophete (190) along with third-place finishers Landen Rodrigues (138) and Antonio Maldonado (215).
Tewksbury’s Manny Mengata and Concord-Carlisle’s Miles Mattaliano are the latest members of the 100-win club.